


Forgotten Celestial Lullabies

by RosettaStarlight



Series: Lunar Lullabies [1]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Backstory, F/M, Feels, Gen, Give Runaan a hug, Growing Up, I really hope this isn't too many tags, Is this too many tags, M/M, Moonshadow elf, Multi, OC, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Pre-Canon, Prequel, Rayla's mother is his sister, Runaan deserves a hug, Startouch elf, Starts off light and happy, Sunfire elf, Why Runaan doesn't trust anyone anymore, then turns to angst, young runaan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-06 22:38:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19072099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosettaStarlight/pseuds/RosettaStarlight
Summary: From a human, Runaan learned the hard way that not one of their kind could be trusted.From a fellow elf, he learned the hard way not to trust at all so easily.And from both he learned to harden and close off his heart.===Growing up, Runaan wasn't used to having friends. Assassins or assassins-in-training that is, don't have friends. But he decides there's no harm and gives it a shot. All these years later, he still can't decide if it was one of his best or worst decisions he'd ever made.





	1. Tale of the Moon, Sun, and Stars

To this day Runaan still can't decide if the day he met Lorcán Blackstar was among the worst or best things that had ever happened.

 

After all, she was the one who finally managed to teach him to keep his heart guarded. 

  
Through the memories good and bad, he still couldn't decide if that lesson had been worth it.

* * *

 

Runaan doesn't remember when does he learn about the existence of Startouch elves, rare as they were, but the first time he ever met one was at six. When one had been escorted into his village, whispers rising throughout like ripples in a pond. He found he doesn't like the way they talk about her, even when she was in hearing range, as if she isn't there. Then again, most adults seem to assume their children are too young to understand them. But Runaan usually does. And so he listens.

Over the next few days he learns that Startouch elves were extremely precious and rare, normally a reclusive sort, barely even found among each other however little there were. Apparently the last one who had gone against that and lived with other elves had passed away over a hundred years ago. This one, however, was an even rarer oddity among elves, especially Startouch, a mix-breed of the Sun and Stars.

She was hardly seen as much else if the whispers meant anything. Not as an elf. Not even as a _person_. Just some one-of-a-kind creature they had yet to understand, that they had no idea of its capabilities. Startouch elves were powerful beings, that much was obvious, but because of their rarity, their magic was little understood. Only that it drew upon the vast and timeless power of the cosmos: divination, visions, the ability to see into the great beyond.

Since Aaravos—everyone knew of the terrible Startouch elf who betrayed his own kind by giving humans the abomination known as dark magic—any Startouch who chose to mingle among others were kept under close watch. Which was why it only made sense that such a unique one born and raised with other elves should be paid apt attention. And why the Dragon King wanted her nearby if not in his court until she came of age.

It made Runaan wonder why of all the places she had ended up in this particular village. He wasn't so sure of the idea of fate, but Star magic centered on foretelling such, didn't it?

On one hand, it made him curious as everyone else, of someone with the Sun and Stars in their blood. There had been other mix-breeds with two Primals, but this newcomer was a unique case. On the other hand, he felt more pity towards the girl. Moonshadow elves were common in these parts, and you could find a multitude of Ocean elves in rivers, ponds, or seas; Earthblood were common in the forests or in places rich with Earth magic; Skywing elves could normally be found living in trees as they liked to be near the sky; Sunfire elves had their own territory closer to the Border to guard the Breach and were most common second to themselves. Meanwhile the strange mix-breed was one-of-a-kind, the _only_ of her kind. No family, her mother left behind wherever she'd come from in the efforts to bring her here, no tribe, no one else to understand her struggles or assist her through them.

All there was in the absence of company were people who intended to use or study her.

And that must feel very, very lonely.

Runaan couldn't begin to imagine how it would feel knowing he was the _only_ Moonshadow elf. Born alone, no home, no family, no one to understand him.

Yet this girl was his age and everyone whispered and talked of what she might grow to be. No one was sure how to deal with her; the other children ran in the opposite direction when she approached, the adults were wary and condescending, strictly teaching her their structure and morals.

There were whispers of which Primal she'd take after, or if they'd become into one, something new and startling like she. If she would have visions first or be drawn to the Sun. Even her appearance was different, startling almost even among elves.

It wasn't for another few years that they would actually speak to each other. Sometimes Runaan would catch her spying on him and the other kids through the intricately carved curls in the wooden dome over the Moonshadow training arena beneath the whitewashed dome's interior. Runaan would be training or watching the adults train when he'd catch a pair of amber eyes surrounded by black sclera peeking through the lowest carved curl in the dome twenty feet up.

Runaan could feel the weight of her gaze—and heard the soft sound of her little knees thumping against the wooden dome—but he pretended not to notice so as not to get her in trouble. Though the children visited the training arena twice a day to exercise and watch the adults train, this girl was rarely allowed past the line of sight of her guardians. Too valuable to risk losing or getting hurt, perhaps. So of course she would feel the need to escape and clamber up the dome's exterior wall.

Runaan couldn't imagine being so rebellious and going against the word of his elders, but he found if he were, things would plenty more interesting and  adventurous. Maybe that was why he never told anyone who didn't catch her. Secretly, he delighted in catching the girl and her determination to be closer to others her own age than be stuck in a stuffy room. She had a strong will like few he'd seen, like his sister. But that was different, Leona dreamed of being part of the Dragon Guard someday; one needed strength to do such a deed.

Even though they never spoke, he came to find her actions intriguing if not endearing, and sometimes he thought she knew he saw her. Instead he listens to the whispers, of what they're saying about her now.

They were ten when they officially met. The sunset's light had cast its rays through the branches, patterning the dirt with intricate shadows. Far away from the village in a secluded clearing in the woods, Runaan tried to follow his father's advice when he talked about having trouble focusing in training. It seemed boring, but he wanted to get better, wanted to prove he was strong like him.

So he focused on controlling his breathing, entering a gentle state of meditation. He focused on the hissing of the leaves in the trees around him, imagining with his eyes closed how the sunlight broke through the branches in golden streaks, illuminating the forest floor. His breaths are deep, steady and even – in, out, in, out – concentrating on what his father had told him. To clear his mind and create a blank slate, free of all thoughts. It was more difficult than what he'd originally thought, of how when he gestured to shove all thoughts away, he suddenly found his head swarming with him, how he was always thinking, always having his thoughts occupied by _something_ , whether relevant or insignificant.

One thought better with a clear mind, he remembered being told. So he tried to push it away and focus on being blank. That all that existed was the nature around him and his breathing.

Runaan wishes often that he could be more like his parents, so strong and brave like all elves should be. To be able to fight and show his loyalty to Xadia like the rest of his family had for generations.

The world around him fell silent as he tried to keep his head blank. Only the sounds of nature remain. Leaves sighing, grass swishing, birds singing an array of individual tunes, the soft sounds of his breathing. Peaceful.

But something was off.

His eyes open as this registers. A presence a few yards behind him disrupted the atmosphere. He would be worried if there wasn't a deliberate gesture to it, like they were trying to make sure he heard them.

Untrained steps slowly make their way into the clearing, disturbing the grass and forest debris. Runaan stood and turned to find _her_ standing there. She kept walking with her hands clasp before her, looking as though this were a completely expected outcome, until she was a few feet away.

Over the years he's had time to observe her, so he knows what she looks like. Black horns penetrate long black hair, short like his own but would grow in time, and though her eyes were strange, gold irises surrounded by darkness of her sclera instead of white, what drew the eyes first was her skin that was like a tapestry of colors. A twilight sky in living form, her complexion was an array of blues, yellows, and pinks, freckled with shining stars like tiny diamonds had been embedded into her skin.

"What are you doing here?" Runaan demanded. Because, really, why was she? She had other things to do and one place to be. He really needed to learn how she kept giving a couple of experienced elves the slip. And why she seemed to seek him out most.

"Well, Moonwalker," she began easily, friendly, a smile on her lips, "you probably know me, but I didn't know you—well, not yet anyway. Perhaps we can change that?"

Runaan stared at her in disbelief. “So… you want to be friends?”

The girl nods. “Basically.” She reaches out her hand. "I'm Lorcán. What's your name?"

Awkwardly, Runaan shook her hand. “Runaan.”

"I know."

"Then why'd you ask?"

"It's called being _polite_ , Runaan," she giggled.

He allowed himself a small grin. Runaan was not used to having friends. The idea was foreign for most Moonshadow elves, which was odd in a way. Teammates, comrades, were the closest thing, but you were never allowed to get to close to them less such a relationship compromise a mission. You are supposed to trust each other with your life, but never your secrets, never your heart.

To be a perfect Moonshadow elf, you had to master the art of illusions. Show no fear. Emotions were weakness, weaknesses that could get you killed. The Moon wasn't warm, so why should they be? But once again, Runaan thinks of how lonely such a life must get.

So the strange girl wanted to be friends? Why not give it a shot?

"The stars tell me we're gonna be good friends in the future," Lorcán went on to say with a hopeful expression. Runaan's eyebrows rose, because judging from what he'd heard her visions hadn't come yet, and because of her mixed heritage, no one was sure if they ever would. Although she may have lied in hopes they would leave her alone. Yet despite her potential uselessness, the King won't send her back home. "I was thinking that...why wait?"

"I'd like that."

Her grin broadened if possible and she leaned forward. "Wanna see something cool?"

* * *

 

Their friendship was a strange, albeit interesting one. Lorcán seemed to always be on the lookout for the next adventure, wandering far enough away from her guardians by foreseeing their actions.

Lorcán was very quick to tell him that her first vision had come months ago, and the one she claimed foretold their friendship was this morning. She recognized the pull of both Arcanums, and knew a vision when one came to her. After her first, she tried to read and memorize every piece of knowledge she could find. It's not much, many scrolls came in languages she couldn't understand, and when she tried to read of one particular Startouch elf, the language kept changing, and so she ended up learning the languages too. Stories say that the visions will bring her knowledge of the future, let her see allies, friends and lovers, those who will play an important role in her future. And apparently he was one of them. Out of most visions,  some were of the coming dinner, and some were distant memories of the people and places, the books she would read and conversations she would hold.

Unfortunately, it seemed regardless of the fact she could tell the future, she didn't seem intent on living to _see_ that future, and if she did know she'd live until then, she seemed _very_ intent on testing the Stars to see what it'd take to change that future.

That being said, Runaan came to the realization within the first day that he was the only sensible one in this friendgroup.

"Come on, come on, come _on._ " Lorcán yanked Runaan along hard enough that he'd think she was trying to pull his arm out of his socket. “It’ll be awesome!”

They found themselves standing on the bank of a swift-moving river. Runaan could see it drop into a tall waterfall and cascade past rocks in the distance. And Lorcán's _brilliant_ plan (sarcasm be noted) was to ride a rowboat down it.

“I don’t know,” Runaan said. “When you said you saw us being friends, does that go beyond today?”

"Of course!" Lorcán hesitated as she thought a moment. "Probably." She began muttering under her breath, "Well, there's.... But I think that's a little farther down the line, maybe even in a different river."

"Okay—wait, _probably_?!" 

"Are you _scared_?" she challenged.

Runaan frowned. "Me? _Scared_? Moonshadow elves do not get _scared_."

"Then by all means." She gestured to the boat.

"I'm not scared, I'm being _smart_ ," he snapped. "You can’t seriously want me to go down that. We could die. Plus, there’s no point. It’s just  _dumb._ ”

Lorcán grinned at him in a way that’s hard to say no to. “But there is a point! It’s to have fun.”

She took him by the arm and begins dragging him to the boat. “You need to have more fun, Runi. You’re too serious.”

“You’re not serious  _enough,”_ complained Runaan, but allowed himself to be pulled into the boat. Lorcán climbed in and kicked off the boat, and the river began pushing them to the waterfall.

Runaan braced himself.  _I'm not scared, I'm not. It's hard for anything to phase me. This’ll be fi-_  “AAAAAH!” he cried as they fall down the waterfall, boat vertical and heart beating hard in his chest. Lorcán laughed beside him and ducked as a cascade of water threatened to soak her intricately decorated clothes.

They headed down the river, whacking against rocks, and Runaan admited for a moment (not out loud because than she'd win) that he actually was enjoying it a bit. He lets herself laugh with her as they keep going along, boat spinning almost out of control and the two of them pressed up against the back of it, and Lorcán dramatically falls onto him when they hit a rock.

“See!” she shouted to be heard above the roaring water. “Fun!”

His clothes soaked, Runaan narrows his eyes and tried to appear composed again. “That doesn’t mean you can just make us do incredibly dangerous things at random. Fun can still be safe.”

"No, it can't, because then—Look out!"

They banged into another rock, and Lorcán yelped as water actually  _did_ soak her clothes. They’re probably going to be ruined after this.

She likely didn't even care, though.

He on the other hand couldn't afford to be so carefree.

By the time they finally pulled over to a bank, they were both soaked to the bone and the cresent moon had begun to take its place in the sky. Runaan shook his head, sending water droplets flying from his clothes, his braids, ugh, Leona was _not_ going to be pleased with him. Lorcán on the other hand looked utterly exhilarated, her eyes alight. Looking around briefly, Lorcán sighed in relief and began wringing her wet hair. “ _Awesome_ , no giant serpents. Must be a vision that happens when we're older.”

"Well, I'm so glad your visions don't—" began Runaan sarcastically before the rest caught up. "Wait, _What_ _?”_

“Nothing! Let’s go again!”

Runaan had just opened his mouth, but by then Lorcán had picked up her wet skirt and hurried upward. After a moment, he sighed, but trudged up the hill after her. “Fine. One more time. But then that's _it._ ”

He may not have the Stars as his Arcanum, but even back then he could already foresee this girl being the death of him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a prequel of sorts to my other fanfic "Lunar Lullabies" where Lorcán is an elf mentioned. Also, I guess I kinda made this off the assumption that when Runaan spoke about humans being liars, it sounded kinda personal, like he'd learned it from experience. Either way, those that take the time to read this, thank you, and I hope you like it! :)


	2. Game of Fate

"You're nervous, aren't you?"

Runaan glanced up briefly from his spot as he sharpened his blades. His gaze which had seconds ago been aimed at the trees snapped into focus at the sound of Lorcán's voice. Thankfully, by now she's learned her lesson and no longer tried to sneak up on him to hug him tight enough for his oxygen to be all but squeezed out of him. He ought to have heard her earlier, but he had to admit his mind was occupied. Shaking his head, he busied himself with returning his whetstone to honing his blades. 

"Nervous? I don't know how they do it where you're from, but Moonshadow elves do not feel fear."

She rolled her eyes. "Do not give me that. Everyone gets nervous sometimes; most of these guys probably just don't show it." She sat down beside him and propped her head on her hand as she examined him. "Tomorrow is your first mission. It's natural."

"I have trained for this."

"Sure there's absolutely nothing on your mind?"

"Oh, no," said Runaan with a soft chuckle. "Whatever makes you think that?"

"Sure, sure, uh, you do know you're scratching your swords, right?"

Runaan looked down at his hands which had kept at work working while he'd talked. Instead of the edge, he could see he had been sliding the whetstone up and down the flat of the blade, faint scuff marks had begun to appear on the metal. Eyes widening, he abruptly released the stone and began frantically trying to wipe the scuff marks out of the blades. After a moment, he stopped and his hand fell limp. He took a deep breath in, held it for a moment, and released it as quietly as possible.

"Careful before you have to go visit Tinker again." The teasing way Lorcán said  _his_  name made Runaan's cheeks flush slightly. "Though I suppose you won't feel too bad about that, will you with all the flirting you two do?"

He's pretty used to this. Other elves have always commented on how the two of them were total opposites. He's the quiet one, the stern one with dry humor and a tough outer shell. She's the loud one, with a smile to brighten rooms and a laugh to make music with. He was also the most sensible one, and ironic to Runaan's strict teaching of how in danger, they were "already dead," he seemed to be the only one concerned with both of them staying alive.

In the years they'd known each other since that day eight years ago, they had changed, but some things never do. Such as Lorcán's desire to strive for more. Whether it was more adventure, more excitement, more knowledge, and her  _experiments_  seemed to give her a taste of all three.

Experiments with magic, to create new spells, mix them together, or any at all really, were not exactly what one may call _safe_. Not even relatively. Lorcán (someone who Runaan was starting to think probably shouldn't be a mage but was anyway) had a bad habit of mixing together different kinds of magic, or different plants to see how they react, and even once or twice adding her own blood into the mix. Didn't help she had hardly a regard for her own safety compared to her research.

And then there were the  _reflex_  experiment with actual fellow elves. He swears, if she jumps out at him with another spider again.... Still, that was better than the time she actually tried to shock herself to see if it would encourage visions. If he didn't know better, he'd swear she was trying to kill herself with such lack for self-preservation.

"Trust me, we are not flirting," Runaan sighed.

"Mmm-hmm." Lorcán hummed, sitting behind him and tucking her knees under her long skirt as she threaded her hands through his loose hair. "Seriously? No haircut  _yet_?" she joked, deft fingers taking strands out of hair into her hands and began folding them over each other. "I swear you're the only guy I know who's hair is longer than mine."

Pausing in his task to allow her to finish, he shot back, "You don't seem to mind it all that much."

"Well, it's fun to play with," she mused. "Besides you know you can't do it without me. Whatever would you do with all—" she held up the half-done braid— " _this_ without me _._ "

With no one really to relate to, Lorcán didn't know much about cultures, much less which to follow. Taken from her original people before it could really set in, kept in a place where her main purpose was to hone her talents and practice them, the only contact she had with half her heritage within books, and where she did spend time with Moonshadow they mainly avoided her, she seemingly belonged to no culture and knew little about it. Yet it was due to Runaan that she knew about this little tidbit, why he could put it in its usual ponytail or other but he couldn't actually braid it on his own. His sister or parents braided it, but tradition meant he couldn't do it himself. It was a Moonshadow elf thing that Lorcán found sweet.

With Moonshadow elves, a braid was more than just something that looks nice. Most in their culture were cold and distant and didn't talk too much about their feelings or show them too often. Yet they still had their ways of speaking through their actions than words. One of their ways was this, because they hardly let anyone get close to you, it's an important thing when someone manages to break through that.

Runaan's parents gave him his first one, and then his sister. He recalled the reason he told Lorcán about it because he came to the realization she had no one to do it for her. And in his mind, he was back five years, and watching her eyes lit up once she learned the meaning while he tried to hold her still. It was a simple half-braid that ran the length of her hair, but she'd loved it anyway, and told him as she'd thrown her arms around him, and then proceeded to do his.

She still had his braid, but she always redid his.

Like everything about her, the style was constantly changing, never the same twice. Sometimes simple, sometimes complex. Sometimes she had spun Runaan's hair into patterns that seemed to be a web of different shapes and sometimes it was just small and simple, to keep his hair and bangs out of his face.

Either way the meaning was the same.

Those bangs that were long, shaggy, that she pulled into back into the braid now. "If you run into something, I don't want you to get mauled just because you can't see."

Runaan rolled his eyes. "As if," he snorted. Now that he'd completed his training, the Council was sending him and a team on a mission —his first real mission—patrolling the Outer Woods for any danger or any spies and humans who'd managed to get past the first defenses. It wasn't likely they'd encounter anything dangerous other than the occasional animal. There were always rogues, but a team of six could easily take them on. The first mission was never anything dangerous. You had to earn your experience, prove you could face it.

Lorcán arched an eyebrow as she finished up the braid up to the crown of his head, and without prompting took out a metal tie of her own to keep it together. "Don't get too arrogant out there. You're one of the best of there, but even the mighty fall."

Runaan tightened his grip on his blades. "I can take care of myself."

"Just don't try to bite off more than you can chew in one sitting. More than a few good trainees either do something wrong somewhere or don't handle it in the best way their first mission," Lorcán warned, crossing legs underneath her skirt as she scooted out to be next to him. "Remember Iolena? She had to take a few months off to recover after her first."

"Well, I'm not like the others," Runaan said with a cynical chuckle, standing up and sheathing his blades as he paced. "I'm pretty sure I can handle a simple patrol."

"And if that patrol ends up also including your first kill?"

Her words hung as an echo in the clearing. Runaan froze in place as the words set in. He could hear his heartbeat pounding in her ears. His mind raced and he looked back toward the ground

He had been trained to kill, learned the way of the sword, but...actually applying it and actually killing someone was a different story. All Moonshadow elves were taught to value life, ironic to their usual lifestyle of taking it. Taking a life? Whether it was the life of some human or rogue elf that attacked him should the need arise? He wasn't sure how well he could stomach that.

For Xadia? Do it, he would. Live with it, of course. How well was the ultimate question.

"I'll...live with it," he replied finally, voice and expression dispassionate. "What else can I do?"

With a sigh, Lorcán huffed good-naturedly. "As usual, you try to hide the way you feel and hide what you're thinking," she said, shaking her head. "Typical Moon Walker."

Despite himself, a small smile wormed its way towards his face. "And you're still trying to get me to admit them," he shot back. "Typical _you_." She momentarily frowned at his choice of words, but then returned his smile with one of her own. Occasionally he could pass as insensitive when he phrased things like that, but she knew he was only stating the truth. Lorcán didn't belong to many categories, if any, both from her personality and heritage. The only category Lorcán could be described as in Runaan's dictionary was—well, herself.

"Can't blame me for trying. I can't see tomorrow, not yet at least," she scoffed, her arms and hands moving mindlessly of their own accord as she spoke. "I've seen days, weeks, months, and sometimes years into advance, and if it weren't for some particular factors I could never tell the difference, but of course when I want my visions most, they fail me."

"Well, do I least live past tomorrow night if that'll ease your worries?" Runaan half-joked.

Lorcán, however, seemed to take it seriously, as she hummed, propping her head on her hand, then proceeded to pick out a deck of cards from her sleeve and began to shuffle them. 

With a roll of the eyes (But he didn't dare sigh out loud, he would not do that to her when she only meant well), he sat back down in front of her. Runaan was reluctant to tell her how uncomfortable her use of Star magic sometimes made him. How she could foresee certain things, certain actions, know what would happen before it actually happen yet not when the precise timeline of when could weird him out. It was super useful, though, more often than not, and she did need to practice her magic if she wanted to be a mage. Besides, she loved being able to show off her skills. He hated to make her feel like he found her an oddity like everyone else, hated to make her feel he was shying away from her like everyone else.

So far she had managed to master Sun magic faster then most, but Stars were a tricky one, and she was determined to learn. Divination was ironically an unpredictable thing; it might tell you what you want to know of your future yet not be very specific in how or even what exactly shall happen, and often enough once you knew of it, it was a fixed point unable to be changed. Its results were usually open to interpretation, and could be interpreted in many ways as there multiple possibilities when it came to foretelling the past, present, and future.

And there were many forms that could be used than simply relying on visions that came and went whenever they pleased. Astrology, cartomancy, palmistry, oneiromancy, rune reading, tasseography, and others all with different results and varying accuracy.

More than once, she had remarked it was difficult but also easy enough to teach to anyone who can't have visions nor had or learned the Star Arcanum because it was partially simply knowing how to read what the objects around were telling you. Reading the stars, reading the cards, analyzing a person's palm to tell their future, tasseography was of reading tea leaves, to read runes, you had to be specific in your answers, and you were tapping into something outside your control, but otherwise, didn't need much magic to get done and oneiromancy was being able to interpret one's dreams. You didn't need  to be a mage or know much magic for that sort of divination; all you needed was know how it worked. No tricks, just knowledge that came natural to those connected to the Stars that needed more effort and practice by others.

Lorcán had offered to teach others, but no one seemed interested in meddling with things beyond their understanding or control. Other mages studying Star magic had found it fascination, though, yet little magic was needed for it so long as you knew how to read between the lines and shapes. Still to hold the Star Arcanums made them naturally experienced enough to assign the correct meaning to a card, relative to its position

"I don't think you need to know everything that's going to happen beforehand, do you?" Runaan asked.

Scoffing, she flipped through the cards. "It's not that hard, and I need to keep practicing on my reading. You might not want to learn because you prefer to stick to what you know, but it's really not that hard so long as you train your eye to catch them. I bet you could even teach this to humans," she commented absentmindedly.

His thoughts screeched to a sudden halt. "Don't."

She looked up with an innocent expression. "Don't what?"

"Don't even think of going down that road, too. Don't end up making that one of your next experiments, seeing if humans can read the stars," he scowled. "They have their vile Dark Magic already, what more could they need?"

"Well, don't you think if they had some magic of their own, they wouldn't require Dark Magic to give them an advantage," she shot back. "Have you never thought why they turned to Dark Magic in the first place?"

Runaan scoffed, leaning back. He didn't need to think about it when he knew the answer. Elves were born with magic threaded into their blood, their essence and very being. Humans were born with nothing. They took life to give themselves power because they could, whether it was from envy or greed. "Before the Divide, humans had been given everything, and they still wanted more," he said.

"Really? Given everything?" She arched an eyebrow at him. "You forget I've read into many books over the years, and there was one that caught my interest. Of course the language kept changing and I had to keep learning to keep up, because no one wants anyone to remember Aaravos, but I'm a smart girl, Runi. I may be a bit too fragile for your liking, but I'm no idiot. Do you know what the passages I read said?" He didn't answer, sensing she wouldn't wait either way. "Elves looked down on humans even then, thought of them as lower beings, and treated them like dirt under our boots, until Aaravos decided to try to teach them magic to make us all equals. We are as much to blame for the Divide as they are."

"If it was written by Aaravos, that old fool will have written anything to gain your sympathy and excuse his own actions."

"That  _old fool_  was one of the greatest Archmages in our history and he was one of few known to treat humans better than second-class citizens. Startouch elves have a tendency to see the bigger picture because of how they see the turn of events before it happens.  Whatever Aaravos' was, it included humans while everyone else pushed them away and belittled them, rarely even thought them worth interacting with."

"And you're saying our elders were wrong?" Runaan narrowed his eyes. Whatever earlier uneasiness he might have felt seemed wiped away, as there was no trace of it in his voice as he said, “Humans were given everything, but it will never be enough for them. They would bleed us dry to squeeze the magic from our corpses. They would bleed _you_ dry especially, and yet you still manage to have sympathy for them That is why we banished them from Xadia, Lorcán.”

"But, Runaan, humans, let's admit, they seem to have this strange—almost magical ability to defy fate in ways we wouldn't even imagine possible. It's--" Her eyes lit up with that curious spark. Humans were like a specimen that needed to be analyzed to her. "It's fascinating."

"Shouldn't you think that humans should stay out of the picture to keep the future set and avoid that?" he asked exasperatedly. 

"Nope," she shrugged, popping the 'p'. She continued to shuffle the cards before laying them out one by one, spread out in an arc and face down. "I believe that the stars change considering our actions. Regardless of what is in our stars, we have control over what we do or say, and well, how can you say humans are inferior, when they still continue to thrive in a land bereft of all magic? We are born with skills, we are born with magic--" she gestured to their surroundings-- "in our essence and everywhere we look, we are born this way and it comes almost naturally to us. Humans aren't. They start from scratch, they learn their skills, they try to learn our magic, and even if they fail they still continue to live and persevere. How would one call that inferior?" She carefully flipping the cards over, and she looked up to gaze directly into Runaan's eyes. "I'm not saying I'm sympathetic, but I am saying that...well, what exactly would you have done in their place?"

When Lorcán was found to have an affinity to Star magic, she was supposed to be cold and unreachable as the distant stars like half of her heritage; to be a humble interpreter between the murky river of “fate," time and space, and that which existed in this world -- it was not only her duty but what was expected of her nature. Yet she also seemed to see both elves and humans had all been parts of stars so long ago. And she was still asking questions and looking for more. Runaan sensed it would soon become a problem.

"One doesn't need the gift of far-sight to chart the course of their own destiny, Runi." Her lips curved into a smirk. "Sometimes it can be seen as a game, only you are both the avatar and the player. Shall we play?"

It wasn't the first time he worried for her when she said things like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to sort of add this when I read a headcanon about since Startouch elves are said to be connected to Divination, that divination was more than just visions, but like all kinds of Divination, so...yeah. Anyway, feedback is appreciated and I hope you like it!


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